One of New York’s top boxing gate attractions, Monaghan (18-0, 11 KOs), of Long Beach, NY, will be traveling to Las Vegas, for his pay-per-view debut, defending his World Boxing Council (WBC) Continental Americas light heavyweight title against Anthony Caputo-Smith (14-1, 10 KOs), of Kenneth Square, PA. The Monaghan – Smith rumble will open the Timothy Bradley vs. Juan Manuel Márquez pay-per-view telecast on Saturday, October 12, at the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The fights will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View®, beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. PT.

“I have seen a couple of Caputo-Smith’s DVDs. He is going to get hit with something real hard. I am not going to try to knock him out but he will end up walking into something. He can’t help himself. He’s a big guy, so when I do hit him with something hard he is going to go down real hard. And make a lot of noise doing it!

“Is Chávez Jr. going to stay at light heavyweight? If so I would love to fight him before he eats himself up to cruiserweight. How about Vera? I’d love to fight him, too.

“There are way more Long Beach [New York] Irish fans, than I thought, traveling to Las Vegas for this fight. They are going to drink that place dry. Then eat all their food. That’s a Wynn-Win Seanario, baby!

Monaghan, 31, captured the WBC Continental Americas light heavyweight title on June 14, 2012, via an eighth-round TKO of Romaro Johnson and he successfully defended it last October 24, winning a unanimous decision over Rayco Sanders. Known for his aggressive style and good punching power, especially to the body, Monaghan is currently world-rated No. 10 by the World Boxing Association (WBA) and No. 11 by the International Boxing Federation (IBF). In last his fight, on April 13, he scored a first-round knockout of Dion Stanley on the undercard of the Nonito Donaire – Guillermo Rigondeaux world junior featherweight championship at a sold-out Radio City Music Hall.